A Chance to Live
by panni2
Summary: Drarry oneshot. It's been a few years since the end of the war. Harry is guilt-ridden over the many deaths that he could not prevent. Draco comforts him.
Draco woke to quiet sobs. He tiredly opened his eyes to the darkness.

"No, no, no, I'm so sorry. No! No, no, _please_. I'm so sorry, please, please, sorry, no, I'm-,"

"Harry!" Draco cried urgently, turning to the man lying beside him. "Harry, it's okay. You're dreaming. Wake up Harry." He began to rub soft circles over his back. "Come back to me, please."

The moonlight reflected fiercely on the tears slipping slowly down his cheeks.

"No, no, no, Sirius! Come back, no, no, please!" He began to shake, and desperate gasping interrupted his cries. "V-Volde-"

"Harry, Harry wake up!" Draco pleaded, his stomach twisting at Harry's hopeless words. He shook Harry's arm roughly until his eyes finally flew open in panic. He gasped, his eyes blinking furiously. "Shh, you're all right, love," Draco said softly, wiping the stains from his face.

"Draco?" Harry asked breathlessly.

"Yes," Draco replied, running his fingers gently through Harry's hair, "you're safe." Harry stared at Draco with wide eyes, his agony revealed by the overwhelming intensity that shone from them.

"I'm safe," he repeated faintly. He began to shake. Small whimpers escaped him as he hid his face behind his hands.

"Harry." Draco moved closer and pulled him against his chest. "I'm right here, Harry. You're here with me. The war is over." Harry's arms circled tightly around Draco.

"No, no, you don't understand. I killed them, Draco. They're dead. They're dead because of me," he explained, his voice breaking. "I couldn't save- I'm not- I-I was supposed to _die_ in the war."

"What? Harry, you saved everyone!" Draco argued fiercely.

"Not everyone," Harry said quietly, "not nearly everyone."

"That was not your responsibility. You were a kid. That guilt is not yours." Draco pulled Harry's hands from over his face. "You did enough." Harry met his eyes uncertainly.

"I-I died in the war."

"What? Harry, I've never known anyone more alive. How could you-"

"No. Not like that." Harry took a breath, and looked at Draco with so much vulnerability and trust that Draco had to choke down his own tears. "In the clearing, where I went to give myself up, he killed me. I was- I was given a choice, and I chose to came back. I came back so that I could finish things. But I thought," Harry shuddered and Draco pulled him closer. "I thought that I would die with him. What right do I have to live when so many people are dead?"

"You have every right," Draco told him forcefully. "If anyone has a right to be alive, it's you."

"But, why? Why am I so special? Why do I get to chose between life and death when no one else gets a choice, when no one else gets a second chance?"

"Because you've spent your entire life fighting this war. Because you've sacrificed everything so that the war could end. Because maybe the universe wanted to give you a chance to actually live without the threat of a mass-murderer hanging over your head!"

"But I'm not the only one who's made sacrifices! Sirius, Remus, Fred, they'll never have a chance to live. They're dead Draco. I should have-"

"What? Given your life in exchange for every single person who died? You think you deserve that?" Draco asked, his voice rising.

"Yes! I was the one who had to end the war!"

"Why? Because you think your life is worth less? Because of some bullshit prophecy that Trelawny pulled out of her ass?" They glared heatedly at each other. Draco sighed dramatically and turned onto his back. "The war isn't on you Harry. It's on Voldemort." Draco swallowed nervously. "And besides, you're not the only one who got a second chance at life."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. Who-"

"Me. The universe gave me a second chance when it gave me you." Harry lay silent for a minute, then suddenly grabbed Draco's hand.

"Thank you," he whispered, and Draco knew he was crying again.

"Don't ever think that your life means nothing. It means everything to some people. It means everything to me."

"I know, it's just-"

"No. No one's death is your fault. You deserve to be happy." Harry burrowed into Draco's side.

"I guess I am happy," he said softly. "I'm happy that I came back, because now I have you. I know that it is completely selfish, but I love you, Draco Malfoy. And-and if you were the only person that I could save, then I wouldn't change that either." Draco draped his arm protectively over Harry.

"I love you, Harry. I have never loved anything more." Slowly, they fell into a hopeful sleep.


End file.
